Nintendo Explains The Concept Behind 2DS, First Video Inside

“Now we’re much closer to $100, which makes it much more affordable for them.”

Earlier today, Nintendo announced the release of a new product: The 2DS. The 2DS will play all DS and 3DS in 2D and will be cheaper than the 3DS, providing, as they put it, an “entry-level portable gaming system.”

The system will release in conjunction with Pokemon X and Y on October 12th at a price of $129.99, and will be available in either red or blue.

Nintendo’s VP of sales, Scott Moffitt had this to say:

“Now we’re much closer to $100, which makes it much more affordable for them. I think that was probably the audience we expected or intended to design the unit for. The ($99) DS still exists, so it’s really four [items in the lineup]. Certainly our emphasis and our priority is on the 3DS platform. That’s where we’ve made our commitment. That’s our future. So we are not developing gaming content for DS at this point. Our resources are focused on 3DS.

But that’ll still be in the lineup. Clearly our development efforts all include 3D games. Our installed base, we have eight million units installed. If 3D wasn’t selling and wasn’t part of our future, we wouldn’t be seeing and enjoying the robust sales we have on 3DS right now. The 3DS is the number one gaming platform on the market. We’re having a very good year with 3DS. Our games continue to sell extremely well. Our forecast for pretty much everything we’ve launched this year has surprised us on the positive side. We’ve been very happy with the 3DS part of our business. This is really all about addressing that next opportunity in the US market.”

Moffit continued to say that games meant for 3D game play still play well in 2D. This has allowed Nintendo to create a cheaper system, which can still play advanced-graphics titles:

“If we can get to that in another way… get to a price point of $129 with 3D functionality, it didn’t look like it was possible,” he said. “That’s the reason. It’s less about wanting to have 3D in and it’s more about trying to get to the value price point that’s going to allow us to open up that next part of the market.”